An Abundance of Sweet Summer Swapness

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Jone at Check It Out for Roundup. I'm excited to share with you some more of my Summer Poem Swap treasures. I shared earlier what Margaret sent me, and today I'm featuring lovelies from Buffy, Violet, and Iphigene.

But first, in case you missed it: I wrote earlier this week about a poetry-cookbook you might enjoy! Last week I shared some architecture quotes that sound like they're talking about poetry!

Buffy, ever the nature enthusiast, sent a Golden Shovel, using my poem "Tree for All" from Dear Wandering Wildebeest as her source poem. I'm so honored! And look what Buffy created:

Monarch's Commandment

Beware my stripes, you blue jays, crows, and owls
I'm not fit for feathered babes that beg in your nest
Sneak a beakful of me and you will be stricken in
your crop and stomach, your head and heart - my
body is a cesspool, brimming with toxins, hidden
in my skin and guts. Your insides will cramp to a knothole;
Think of the nausea, the gagging. It's hardy worth a nip of my
plump body. Remember this knowledge from cradle
to grave and pass over me. Teach your cozies
to avoid me while I creep and eat. Soon I will grow a brand new
body and become king of the sky, rising through air on brilliant wings.
- Buffy Silverman

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How much do I love "cozies" as a noun?!


From Violet I received a photo-illustrated poem-book! She titled it "Artistry," and it's a collection of images and words that show the everyday art found in her hometown (Langley). Perhaps my favorite spread features benches and a mural of a door opening to a flight of stairs.

Here are the words that accompany:

Artistry opens a door

that isn't there

and lures us to sit 

and visit in the sun

- Violet Nesdoly

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Let's sit in the sun together, shall we?

Iphigene sent me (all the way from the Phillipines) a gorgeous original painting and poem inspired by my 2017 One Little Word "Abundance."

Let Us

Let us do this -
Open arms running across fields
Stumbling through rocks
Picking ourselves up
with laughter echoing
through our chests

Let us walk through crowds
Stand in line
waiting for an adventure
of a good meal and time
to watch people

Let us do this -
Jump into the newness
of unchartered waters
falling and learning
opening ourselves
to possibility

Discovering to live our
poems, letting words
grow, bear fruit
in our every day,
in abundance

- Iphigene Daradar
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Here's to open arms and bearing fruit! 

Thank you, poets, for shining your sweet light on my summer. xo

p.s. obligatory eclipse-watching photo:

courtesy of my eclipse buddy Paul